Alternative for C-key in Emacs?

Question

Only a full week on emacs in windows now, I can feel the CTRLkey combinations are beginning to hurt. Nobody suffers RSI because of emacs :-) ?

Is there any way to choose another key for a while (the M-key is replaceable by the ESC key I have noticed)

I would like to use, say the tab key, for a change. Any way to do that?

Correction: *everybody* suffers RSI because of Emacs. Until you re-map the Control key. — Chris Conway, Jun 18 '09 at 16:28
Maybe emacs is invented by some out-of-work Company-doctors? — Peter, Jun 18 '09 at 17:26
i have no problems with RSI. (But I use Emacs since the olde Amiga-Days on daily basis, so i am used to it.) — Peter Miehle, Jun 19 '09 at 11:13
Duplicate of [What is the best way to avoid getting “Emacs Pinky”?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/52492/what-is-the-best-way-to-avoid-getting-emacs-pinky/8935973). The solution I recommend is [to use Space both as Space and Ctrl](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/52492/what-is-the-best-way-to-avoid-getting-emacs-pinky/8935973#8935973). — teika kazura, Dec 01 '12 at 02:14

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 18 '09 at 14:29

8

This guide look promising.

answered Jun 18 '09 at 14:29

Tom Ritter

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same answer as Andrew, I will try out AutoHotKey from it , tx – Peter Jun 18 '09 at 14:44

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 18 '09 at 14:29

4

Google Ctrl2Cap utility. It allows you to map CAPS lock to additional Ctrl key. Handy not only for emacs, but in general.

answered Jun 18 '09 at 14:29

Marko

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+1 I *always* map CapsLock to Ctrl. It has a nice location and it's useless. – ibz Jun 18 '09 at 15:03

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 18 '09 at 14:29

3

Follow the tutorial about Moving the Control Key.

answered Jun 18 '09 at 14:29

Andrew

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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 19 '09 at 18:43

I did suffer a year of RSI after several years of sixteen hours a day of coding in emacs. My solution is to use a Kinesis Countoured keyboard. That means that all of the modifier keys are under my thumbs.

If you think about it, existing keyboards encourage us to use our pinky fingers as if they were opposable thumbs. Thus my customized keyboard layout called I am not a koala. I went a step further than the standard Kinesis layout and moved the shift key under my thumb as well (I swapped Shift_L and DEL).

I admit, for most people moving the control key is enough, but for me my Kinesis and a customized keymap is better.

+1. very interesting. Too expensive for me thoug and workwise : my boss already payed me a "natural" keyboard, I don't dear to ask for a Kinesis now :-) — Peter, Jun 20 '09 at 10:46

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 25 '09 at 15:24

If you're already comfortable with vi, you might want to try out viper-mode. Using vi keybindings keeps your fingers on the home row more, and puts less of a strain on your pinkies. You still wind up needing to use CTRL some of the time, but significantly less often.

Alternative for C-key in Emacs?

5 Answers5